The Aldrich Alert
Gary Aldrich

A Publication of
the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty

FBI Headquarters

June 2, 2001

FBI Headquarters’ Supervisory Special Agent David Frasca’s name has been
leaked by "concerned" U.S. senators who swear everything they
do is in the interest of the betterment of the FBI. Frasca is the manager
at FBI Headquarters whom Minneapolis FBI Agent and Legal Adviser Coleen
Rowley named in her 13-page letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Rowley also sent copies of her letter to several U.S. senators, so we’ll
assume she feared that the FBI director would never see it. Was Rowley
worried that the "slugs" below the director’s 7th-floor suite
would make her bad news "go away"?

Who could have ever imagined what happened on Sept. 11, 2001? But that
doesn’t relieve the responsibility of the FBI to respond to threats. Something
bad happened at FBI Headquarters, and we have yet to learn what, or who,
is responsible. It’s too easy to assume that David Frasca is to blame
just because Rowley didn’t leave any doubt in her memo about who she thinks
"obstructed" the Phoenix and Minneapolis investigations.

But, is it as simple as Rowley claims? Is it true that SSA Frasca was
in over his head and could not properly function in his job at FBI Headquarters
for reasons related to a poor work ethic or abilities? I’m joining the
chorus of people who insist  for our own future national security
 that we learn what really happened at FBI Headquarters, and how
this important terrorist threat inquiry was stifled.

To start with, let’s list the number of supervisory positions who could
second-guess SSA Frasca. In Minneapolis, SSA Frasca interfaced with the
field office supervisor who managed the squad that conducted the Moussaoui
investigation. Immediately above the squad supervisor was an assistant
special agent in charge and above him, a special agent in charge at the
Minneapolis office.

All three of these individuals could have weighed in on the Moussaoui
investigation if they objected to FBI Headquarters’ decisions or inaction.
Did they object? If Rowley’s complaints are well founded, I would assume
the case agent, his supervisor and Rowley went through the proper chain
of command and complained to the ASAC and SAC. Rowley’s memo does not
seem to address this, but I think we need to know the answer.

At FBI Headquarters, there is SSA Frasca, then above him is an assistant
unit chief. Above his assistant is the unit chief, who reports to the
assistant section chief. The assistant section chief reports to the assistant
director for the division, and he reports to

Lots of chiefs but not enough braves?

Many believe there are too many layers of management at the FBI overseeing
the work of the "street agents" who do the real work. Recall
the road-repair crew with one guy digging in the hole with his pick, and
five guys standing around the hole watching him dig. When we drive by
this kind of bureaucratic waste, we often laugh. But if it happens at
someplace important like the FBI, it isn’t funny.

Then there’s the typical knee-jerk reactions by Headquarters denizens
overly concerned with career advancement. Many are terrorized into timidity
by the stories of others who came before, tried to be proactive by helping
field offices, but "broke their pick off" in the process. On
more than one occasion SSAs have remarked, "No good deed goes unpunished."
They aren’t kidding, and that’s sad. The "best" advice at FBI
Headquarters is usually, "Keep your head down, your mouth shut, and
just do your time."

I first heard, "To get ahead, you have to get along; and to get
along, you have to go along" from my supervisor when I was a fresh
recruit to the Washington Field Office SPIN Squad, the group responsible
for conducting investigations of White House appointments. We handled
Supreme Court Justice cases as well as investigations into the lives of
the president’s closest White House staff, including the chief of staff.
It seemed very odd to me that FBI managers could adopt such dysfunctional
attitudes, particularly with those involved in White House matters.

I guess some FBI managers would’ve accused me of having a bad case of
the "for-reals," another cynical slogan I heard too often. Yet
another was, "The trouble with you, Aldrich, is that you care too
much." Well, perhaps too many FBI managers don’t care enough.

Director Mueller has a tough job ahead of him. He has proposed many changes,
but the most important change may be the hardest one to make  the
new FBI director has promised a positive change in FBI management attitude,
starting at the top. The FBI needs this change desperately, and many of
my friends  whether still in the FBI or retired from the bureau
 suggest moving vast numbers of burned-out SSAs to the field offices
and bringing fresh SSAs back to management  the ones who did not
join the FBI so that they could "go along to get along."